1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a strip tape mounting device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a strip tape mounting device that mounts bags onto a strip by applying pressure to the bags while holding the bags, the bags being formed by sealing a belt-shaped film and filling articles such as potato chips and the like.
2. Background Information
Strip bags have been commonly used in which bags of a snack food such as potato chips or the like are adhered to a predetermined number of strips at a predetermined spacing and displayed with the bags hanging downward. Such strip bags are designed to allow a customer to pull a snack food bag from the strip so that the food bag is removed from the strip. Devices which manufacture this type of strip bags by automatically manufacturing bags whose interiors are filled with articles and then subsequently applying pressure and adhering the bags to a strip that is drawn out are well known (see for example Japanese Published Patent Application No. H09-508879, U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,895, and International Patent Application Publication No. 98/52823).
The applicants have also developed a device which includes a bag manufacturing unit, an attaching unit, and a transfer unit. The bag manufacturing unit forms a belt-shaped film into a tubular shape, and manufactures bags whose interiors are filled with articles such as potato chips and the like. The attaching unit applies pressure and adheres the bags to a strip that is fed out from a feed roller. The transfer unit includes a pair of arms that are left-right symmetrical, and moves bags manufactured by the bag manufacturing unit to the attaching unit.
More specifically, the bag manufacturing unit forms a belt-shaped film into a tubular body which extends in a longitudinal direction and whose lower portion and side surface are sealed. Then, after the bag manufacturing unit drops articles in the tubular body from above, the upper portion of the bag is sealed by a heat sealing mechanism and cut from the belt-shaped film. Grasping members that serve to grasp the side portions of the bag are provided on the upper portion of the arms of the transfer unit. Before a manufactured bag is cut off from the belt-shaped film, the grasping members will grasp both the left and right sides of the bag. The transfer unit operates while the bag is grasped by the grasping member, and transfers the bag from the bag manufacturing unit to the attaching unit.
The attaching unit includes a heater that is heated to a high temperature, and a clamp that is pushed and compressed onto the heater. Then, the attaching unit presses and adheres together, with the heater and the compression surface of the clamp, a strip that is drawn out onto the heater, and an upper portion of the bag that is placed on top of the strip by the transfer unit. After that, the transfer unit will return to the bag manufacturing unit in order to grasp a newly manufactured bag, and the clamp in the attaching unit will be opened, a new strip will be drawn out, and the same operation will be repeated.
However, if a bag of snack food is gripped tightly with a large gripping member so that the bag will not move, the articles inside the bags may be crushed, and the gas sealed in the bags in order to preserve the articles may be compressed and thus the bags may break open. Accordingly, a smaller sized gripping member has been adopted, and the gripping force set to a lower level.
However, if the gripping member and the gripping force are as described above, a phenomenon will occur in which the upper portion of the bag that is above the gripping portion will move when the lower portion of the bag swings due to the inertial force produced when the bag is transferred to the attaching unit. The effect of this is that problems will occur such as the upper portion of the bag not being placed on the desired position of the strip and thus the positions in which the bags are adhered to the strip not being uniform, or the clamp interfering with the upper end of the bag and thus the bag being adhered to the strip tape in a shape in which the upper end thereof is crushed.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved a strip tape device that overcomes the aforementioned problems in the prior art. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.